CPAPtalk.com

LSAT wrote: It looks like he has been using his S9 Elite since May...7 months. Why would any DME exchangeit after that amount of time. If a doctor wrote a script for an auto the Insurance Company Insurance company would resist.

Buy a new one from cpap.com, sell the old one on craigslist and get a new doctor.

BlackSpinner wrote:

MDALE wrote:A minor side point - the reason they insist on a printout and can't open a pdf, accept e-mails or thumb drives is simple. They do not want to risk a computer virus.

Then they should get good anti virus software. Or switch to Linux.
It is not a valid excuse.

None of those solutions is a sure thing. Antivirus doesn't work for security problems that the hackers discover before the antivirus companies do. Hackers are figuring out how to attack linux machines, too.

How are the patients going to feel if their medical and financial information gets stolen because someone in the doctor's office opens an e-mail from a patient and gets hacked?

BlackSpinner wrote:Buy a new one from cpap.com, sell the old one on craigslist and get a new doctor.

That's actually my plan "C"! ("B" is finding a deal-of-the-century cheap one and keeping the Elite as a backup or for travel) The new one I can get a $500 discount by blowing my FSA in one shot (technically, I'm still paying for 75% of it over the course of a year, but still... doesn't feel like it), and selling my old one for a few hundred would cover a bunch of the rest. I wouldn't sell it for much though, having ~1,500 hours on it. And, the appointment for my new doctor's already made

MDALE wrote:A minor side point - the reason they insist on a printout and can't open a pdf, accept e-mails or thumb drives is simple. They do not want to risk a computer virus.

That's a fair argument. However in this case they tried to open the file; they just lacked the means to. Even said "if we have MS Word, we can probably open that." I wanted to point out Acrobat reader being free and probably OEM installed, but... you know, not worth it.

Janknitz wrote:You are going to be banging your head against a very hard brick wall.

At least I have some metal on in the background

Thanks everyone for all the thoughts and support. I have a new doctor looking at my case next month, and a new DME supplying my goods. I'm probably SOL with insurance, which I figured might be a reach since I already have the Elite. Looks like plan "C" will be the way I have to go. Not the end of the world.

BlackSpinner wrote:

MDALE wrote:A minor side point - the reason they insist on a printout and can't open a pdf, accept e-mails or thumb drives is simple. They do not want to risk a computer virus.

Then they should get good anti virus software. Or switch to Linux.
It is not a valid excuse.

It's an absolutely fantastic and completely convincing excuse.

My office computer is connected to a network that is connected to servers containing medical records, billing information, images, and all sorts of stuff. I am personally responsible for any data breaches of any of my patients' identifiable medical information and I can't write prescriptions or access medical records if my computer is down. Only a moron would plug in a USB device that they cannot personally vouch for to such a computer. For example, I don't plug in any of my own, personal USB devices (such as my smartphone) to my work computer. Ever.

Linux? You're joking, right? Please show me the electronic prescribing, office management and medical billing, and EMR software available on that platform. There are some vestigial EMR things, but nothing that's even remotely usable in the real world.